Republican leaders have expressed confidence that a deal can be struck to raise the nation's debt limit before Tuesday, and avert possible default.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said there was "a level of seriousness with the right people at the table".
But his Democratic counterpart said there was no "meaningful" engagement.
In a sign of the level of anxiety over the issue, troops in Afghanistan asked Adm Mike Mullen if they would be paid.
The admiral, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is on a visit to southern Afghanistan, said he did not know whether that would be the case if the US fails to raise the $14.3tn (£8.7tn) limit by 2 August.
Democrats and Republicans have so far rejected each others' proposals for cutting spending and raising the debt limit.
President Barack Obama backs Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal, which would cut $2.2tn from deficits and raise the debt ceiling by $2.7tn, meaning the issue would not have to be revisited until after the 2012 elections.
Senate Democrats had hoped to pass the bill by Sunday morning so that it could go to the House by Monday.
Mr Reid accused the Republicans of seeking to filibuster, or delay, proceedings.
"Unless there is a compromise, or they accept my bill, we're heading for economic disaster," he said.
Following Saturday's House vote, President Barack Obama summoned Mr Reid and Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi for talks.
Republicans said they were confident a deal could be reached.
Referring to the Senate bill, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called on Democrats to "end this charade" so that negotiations could be pursued with the president.
"We are now fully engaged with the one person in America out of 370 million people who can sign this bill into law," he said.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he was "confident that we're going to come to some agreement with the White House and end this impasse."
"I think we're dealing with reasonable, responsible people," he said.
But Mr Reid responded that "the engagement there is not in any meaningful way."
"Republican leaders still refuse to negotiate in good faith."
Breathing space
The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says the Treasury is already drawing up emergency plans in case a deal is not reached.
The US Treasury estimates that the government will no longer be able to borrow money to pay all its bills unless its borrowing limit is increased by Tuesday.
Experts say the government has enough cash to keep functioning for another week or so after that.
Politicians have had some breathing space over the weekend to negotiate before Asian financial markets open on Monday morning, which will be Sunday afternoon in the US capital.
The House of Representatives passed its own plan on Friday evening by 218-210, with 22 Republicans and every Democrat voting against.
The plan, drawn up Mr Boehner, includes some $900bn of spending cuts and would raise the debt ceiling by a similar amount.
However, it would require another vote during mid-2012 - in the midst of next year's presidential campaign - and includes language in support of a so-called "balanced budget amendment" to the US constitution. Both are rejected by the White House and the Senate leadership.
Shortly after the House passed its bill, the Democratic-led Senate voted to reject the Boehner plan.
In a weekly radio address, Mr Obama reiterated that any solution on a default had to be bipartisan.
"There are multiple ways to resolve this problem," he said.
"Congress must find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House and in the Senate. And it has to be a plan that I can sign by Tuesday."
Analysts predict a last-minute scramble for a compromise and razor-edge votes in both chambers, with the high-stakes game of legislative brinkmanship expected to continue all weekend.
The Boehner and Reid plans overlap in key ways, such as trimming spending over 10 years and shunning President Obama's call for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations.
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